live audio [electronic resource] the art of mixing a show

[...]... two peaks of a wave of sound—or any other type of wave, for that matter Amplitude and Loudness Amplitude and loudness go hand in hand Looking at a waveform, you will see that one full oscillation has a maximum peak level across the entire waveform If you have a waveform that only reaches 4 dB and 4 dB, that waveform has less amplitude than a waveform that reaches 12 dB and 12 dB The more amplitude... circuits and are basically simple binary on and off commands They contain a great number of only odd harmonics, and because of the number of odd harmonics they have, they sound harsh and processed Their sound can often be described as hollow and very rigid Figure 2.4 A full cycle of a square wave TRIANGLE WAVEFORMS A triangle waveform only contains odd harmonics, but isn’t made up of as many different... the eardrum, which is the border between the outer and middle ear The middle ear consists of three bones, collectively Figure 2.1 The ear Audio Engineering Basics  Chapter 2 called the ossicles, but individually named the hammer, the anvil, and the stirrup As the sound makes the eardrum vibrate, the vibrations from the drum get transferred to the hammer, the hammer vibrates the anvil, and then the anvil... separate and sort sounds in your head, and you also need to determine from which direction they are coming How Do Ears Work? The ear consists of three parts: the outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear When you first hear sound, the pinna (which is the name for the outer ear) captures the sound and funnels it into the ear canal; then, once it travels through the ear canal, the sound reaches the. .. slowly appears A buildup of too much wax can cause a buildup of pressure and be quite painful, but cleaning them will help Infections also can cause earwax, so be aware of this possibility if you are mixing when you have a cold Earwax is only a natural defense and can’t be used as any form of substitute for proper hearing protection EARPLUGS The only effective way to prevent any form of hearing damage... there, I got the band to say “Happy Birthday” live on national TV while she was watching I think that did the trick So that’s me, and the story of how things got going Most people who mix for a living come from a background of playing instruments and then naturally migrate toward the mixing console But, as with almost anything, it’s really a case of being in the right place at the right time and having... isn’t a fixed speed; it all depends on temperature, humidity, and pressure If the air pressure, temperature, and humidity are nonvariable, the speed of sound is the same at sea level as it is at the top of a mountain However, if any of those parameters changes, so does the speed of sound Similarly, sound travels faster through objects that are denser than air, such as water or steel Because the particles... very different; usually you get straight on the bus after a gig and head straight out of town Going on tour is about making money, which means you are always on the move Having troubles at home while you are away can lead to all sorts of problems It nearly always affects your work because your mind is constantly taken away from the job at hand As such, it can also affect the people you are working with... types of waveforms with the same peak-to-peak value For example, let’s consider a square wave with a peak-to-peak value of /5 dB, and say it is 100% power Because a square wave switches between    and  , there is practically no rise time (i.e., the time the waveform takes to get from peak to peak); in other words, the waveform stays pretty much full power all the time A sine wave, on the other hand,... another, you can hear a pulse in the notes as the notes get close to each other When you have two frequencies—let’s say 290 Hz and 300 Hz—that are very similar in frequency, you can easily mistake them for the same frequency when they are played on their own However, when they are played together, you can hear the frequencies pulsate You are actually hearing the two strings pulsate at a rate of 10 beats per . really began to appreciate the differ- ence between recorded and live music, and these were some of the best years of my life. One day, we got a phone call from the local theater: They had the.